Uptown Bakers

They provided pastries for a coffee shop I worked at and I loved their assortment of muffins, cakes, croissants, bagels, donuts and various other pastries. YUM!

Uptown Bakers actually moved from DC a few years back to the ‘burbs of Maryland due to high rent and high taxes, but they’re still «uptown»!
They do specialize in catering and farmers markets with a great website to peruse. We find them every Sunday at the West End Farmers Market in Alexandria and *love* their artisan breads (they also do pastries, croissants, etc). You can tell they are crafted with a love for the art of baking and with high-​quality, flavorful ingredients. We particularly love the multigrain — it’s perfect for toast and for sandwiches — and the rye, which is bursting with caraway goodness. The other breads are wonderful, too, with crusty, chewy outsides and soft insides… mmmm.
Love that the bread comes pre-​sliced, too. Not many homemade, farm market breads do. I’m embarrassingly bad at cutting even slices.
The woman who staffs the Sunday market booth is wonderfully warm and friendly, too. It’s always a pleasure to make a stop here.

Uptown does farmers markets, have not been to their DC location. The bakers are French, Jon Luc, is the head man. Met him Sunday at the new farmers market in Fairfax at North Street and Old Lee Highway. The baguets are crusty on the outside and soft in the middle, better than Wegmans, Paneros and the chains. We have have a shortage of independent bakers in the burbs so it is hard to get great bead with character. The croissants were flaky and buttery the way they are supposed to be as opposed to the bread like imitations you get every where else. My other favorite was the brioche. Wonderful rolls with a butter top. Certainly raises the bar on what to expect when looking for good baked goods. Looking forward to more fresh bread next weekend.